


Summon Me

by NorthernDownpour143



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Demon AU, Demon Killian, Eventual Relationships, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I tried a little :), Modern AU, Some Humor, Young Emma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-21 13:10:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6052783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernDownpour143/pseuds/NorthernDownpour143
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five year old Emma has moved once again and has resolved to not talk to anyone. The demon Killian takes an interest in her aura and decides to befriend her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Age 5

Emma was five when she first met Killian, although it wasn’t a traditional meeting. She had just moved to another home where they were only using her as a means to a paycheck every month. The other children were much older than her so they didn’t pay attention to her, just like the foster parents and so she was left alone most of the time. She didn’t make friends with the other children in the neighborhood because what was the point? She was going to be gone in a few months any way. Still she couldn’t complain too much about this house. She has her own room and three meals a day. The kids at school leave her alone most of the time as well, which is okay with her on most days. But even Emma Swan has days where she just breaks down.

            About a month into her new school and Emma had such a day. While the rest of the children were running around playing, she had found herself a small corner in the play area and began to cry silently. She cried out of frustration for her situations. Why was she always given back? Why did no one want to talk with her? She just really wanted to go home and curl under the covers and sleep forever. When she finally looked up she saw a boy from the other class walking _very_ awkwardly towards her.

____

            _’This human is too small_ ,’ Killian thought as he started to adjust to his new body. He’d never possessed a child before and wasn’t really expecting the need for a lot of readjustment. Boy was he wrong. When he passed from the idiotic teacher to the child, he had to physically sit down for a few minutes to regain his composure. And then he was up and trying to adjust to the smaller body while walking over to the crying blonde on the far side of the play area.

            He wasn’t sure why but there was something about her that intrigued him. Unlike most of the other small ones here, this girl’s soul wasn’t as bright as the others. The others’ souls gave off a sort of orange/yellow glow. Some days there were more bluish/grayish souls but this girl’s soul was almost always a purple color, which meant she was sad and /or angry most of the time. Why was that? What made her so different from all other children in this place? He was determined to find out.

            As he started to walk towards her, he tried to really walk as normally as he could but the body was still awkward to him. She looked up from her spot in the corner and he saw her face grow from scared to confused rather quickly.

____

            _‘Why is Cayden coming over here?’_ Emma thought when she looked up. The way he was walking he looked like he was a zombie from one of those movies she’d seen her foster brothers watching after the parents had gone to bed late at night. His stance was slightly slanted, his arms were dangling at his sides, and he walked in a zig zag way instead of a straight line. Also, it wasn’t like him to come anywhere near her, as all his friends in the other class made fun of her during recess. Was he coming over to pick on her alone?  She picked up a rock to get ready to throw at him.

            “Cayden! Go away or I’ll make you regret it!” she yelled at him, the rock hidden behind her back. He stopped about two feet from her and held out his hand. What the heck was he doing? “I said go away!”

            “Emma,” Cayden said, although it didn’t come out in his usual voice. It sounded scratchy and a little deeper than normal. What was going on?

            “Who are you? You’re not Cayden,” she demanded and clutched the rock harder.

            _’Ah she is a bright one. Brighter than this dull thud I’m in.’_ he smirked. “You’re right. I’m not Cayden. My name is Killian, Emma. Pleased to meet you.” he said and held out his hand. The glare she gave him sent shivers down his human spine. Damn, this girl’s stare could kill.

            Emma blinked a few times and then slowly lowered the rock behind her back. She was pretty sure this wasn’t Cayden. He was too stupid to try and come close to her without his posse. And his voice sounded weird.

            “If you’re not Cayden, who are you?” she asked skeptically. “And don’t give me your name again.”

            Killian chuckled. This girl was amusing to say the least. “Emma, I’m not sure I can tell you. You may become scared if I tell you who I really am.”

            “Are you a ghost?” she immediately responded and he took a step back. The sparkle in her eyes caught him off guard. She really wasn’t afraid. Hmm…

            “Emma, how about I make you a deal?” he asked her, his voice becoming deeper. She just nodded in agreement. “You don’t even know what I was going to say there, love. Are you sure you want to agree before you hear me out?”

            Emma just stood up and walked forward to close the space between the two. “I trust you,” she simply said and smiled. Killian smiled. The innocence of children was definitely one of his favorite traits of humans.

            “Alright then. My deal to you is this. In two weeks’ time when I’m done with my current… job… I’ll come and visit you. Then I shall tell you who I really am if you’re still interested. How does that sound?” he asked.

Emma jumped up and down with glee and hugged him. She didn’t care that the body she was hugging was technically Cayden. Right now she hugging Killian, a potential new friend, who just promised to actually visit again. And for once in her life, she believed a promise to her was going to be kept.


	2. Age 5

Chapter 2

Two weeks later~

            Emma sat down on the porch with her notebook in hand. She didn’t have an actual journal so she’s had to deal with the notebook for the past few months. Her therapist had recommended that she keep track of her thoughts and feelings, so she’s been trying to keep everything in the notebook. The past two weeks she hasn’t written about anything other than how excited she is to see her new friend again for real this time. She’d been able to talk to him every so often at school while he possessed Cayden at recess. Everyone did think it was weird that he was now playing and talking with her when not two weeks ago he was just another playground bully, but she didn’t care. It wasn’t really Cayden anyway.

            “Emma?” she heard her name coming from somewhere out in the yard. Emma looked up to search for the source of the voice, but she couldn’t see anyone. “Emma, look up!” So she did. Up in the tree in her yard was her foster brother, Kyle, sitting on the highest branch possible.

            “Kyle! Get down! Cathy is going to be mad if she sees you up there!” she yelled remembering the last time he climbed the tree. They had to take a trip to the hospital because he fell and needed stitches in his arm.

            But Kyle didn’t get down. Instead he just laughed as Emma motioned for him to get down. “Emma.” She heard her name being called from behind her. Confused, she turned around to see Kyle standing behind her looking confused as well. “Why were you calling my name?”

            Emma didn’t know what to say. She just looked at him, and then turned to look up at the tree again. There was no one up there. “ _I’m going crazy!_ ” she thought. “Oh, sorry. Thought I saw you is all,” she laughed. He just shook his head and turned around to go back inside to play. Emma just sighed and looked back down at her notebook.

            “Really Emma? Thought you would have recognized me by now,” she heard a voice say from behind her. She turned around to see a dark, tall shadow standing next to her. The figure loomed next to her for a minute before it began to form into a man. It started at the bottom, with two feet slowly forming. The figure worked its way up the slowly forming human, finally forming the face. He had a nice enough looking face, black, unruly hair and deep blue cerulean eyes that smiled down at her. “Hello, Emma.” To his surprise, she didn’t look scared and immediately ran up to hug him.

            “Hi Killian!” she giggled. It had been three whole days since she had last seen him. She continued to hug him until Killian sighed and hugged her back. “I’ve missed you,” she said as she stepped back to look up at him with a smile.

            “Lass, you say that every time you see me,” he scoffed, but his smile gave him away. Even though he was a demon, he did understand some human emotions. It didn’t help that playing with this child had helped him understand them even more. “Hey, what do you say to playing that one game you like so much?” he asked. Her grin just made his smile even bigger.

            “Which one? Hide and seek or ghosts in the graveyard?” He may have influenced her play a little bit in the past two weeks. “If we play ghosts in the graveyard, can your demon friends join us again?” Yes, she will grow up to be immune to the scare of demons with Killian as her friend.

            “Little love, it seems you’ve already made up your mind,” he chuckled and waved his hand. All around them, dark shadows began to form and pop up from the ground. Just then it clicked in his head, she had said demon friends. He hadn’t told her anything about his real self, yet she had guessed it on her own. “ _I knew there was something peculiar about her.”_ He thought to himself. “Emma!” he yelled before he could think his decision through completely. “Come here.” The little blonde girl ran over to him from her shadow friends in the yard. “So, my dear, you do know that since my business is done I shall be leaving soon, right?”

            Emma looked saddened at the reminder that her new friend had to leave soon, but she nodded. Killian also felt a pang of sadness for her. She has been alone all her life, and here was, leaving her like everyone else. But he was giving her a way to contact him, so he really wasn’t leaving for good.

            “Well how about before our game, I teach you how to summon me, that way whenever you feel like playing or talking, you can call me and I’ll come visit?” Her eyes lit up instantly and she squealed in response. He just laughed a little and picked up her notebook and pen. As he drew in her notebook, she kept jumping up to see if she could peak a look onto the page. Not even a minute later he showed her the page, which had what looked to be an elegant K written on it.

            “What is this?” she asked him as she looked over the letter with curiosity

            “This, my dear, is how you are going to be able to summon me when you need or want me. You see, this here is my sigil,” he explained. Then he pointed to the page. “This, here, is a K for Killian, but the most important thing is that you draw it exactly as you see it. Do you see the stem of the K and how it’s curved out to look like a hook?” he asked. She nodded. “Make sure you draw that. If not, you’re going to summon some other demon, and I’m not sure who that would be, but I’m pretty sure they won’t be happy to be summoned,” he laughed a little.

            “Can we play now?” she urged, eager to get to the game. He laughed again and nodded. He took her hand and they begin to play their game with all the shadow demons Killian had summoned, who didn’t seem to mind playing with the little blonde girl.    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank my best friend, and local consultant on all demonic things, for helping me with this chapter. It doesn't seem like much, but I asked her so many questions on this chapter and she only rolled her eyes once. Thank you for the help honey!


	3. Age 6

Age 6

It’s been a full year since Emma had met Killian on her school playground in Kindergarten. She was now a full year older, a full-fledged six-year-old first grader… And she had just moved to a new school in the middle of the school year again. She had moved two times last year so she wasn’t new to this, but she was just very tired of trying to make new friends. What was the point in making new friends when she would have to leave them behind?

Emma sighed again as she sat through her math class, the teacher talking about adding and subtracting numbers up to 25. She was bored to say the least, she had already learned this at her last school, but this school was just starting on these lessons. She was at a complete loss of interest.

The bell finally rang for lunch and Emma couldn’t have moved any faster. She hopped up on out of her seat and flew out the door and down to the lunchroom. The faster she ate today, the more time she would get to play with Killian. That was her only favorite things about Mondays. She hated that it was the beginning of a new week. She disliked that it meant she had to go to school. And more importantly, she absolutely despised that Monday lunch was just cardboard. Sure they called it pizza, but they all knew that it was really just cardboard with pizza sauce on it. The only thing she liked that she could summon him and they would get to play for about a half hour.

As Emma scarfed down what she could of the terrible lunch, she excused herself to the lunch monitor and went outside to recess. The school didn’t have much of a playground, but it did have a nice patch of sand, and that was all Emma needed to draw Killian’s sigil. She found a stick quickly and got to work.  She quickly, but with practiced precision, drew the elegant K with a hook for a stem into the sand and waited. It sometimes would take a few minutes, but he would usually show up.  When ten minutes passed, Emma still stayed by her sigil, in the hopes that he would show up. When twenty minutes passed, Emma had already lost a lot of her hope that he would show that day. He had explained that there would be times where he would not be able to come when she called. He did have work that he had to attend to. But, he would always come to visit when she called.

“Emma?” someone behind her called her name out. She turned around to see a little blonde girl kneeling close to her. “Emma, do you want to play with me?” the girl asked and held her hand out.

Emma looked back to her sigil and then back to the girl and smiled a small smile. “Sure Brianna. That sounds like fun,” she said and took her hand. The two blonde girls got up and headed back to the slides and swings for the rest of recess.

Even though Emma said she was tired of making friends just to leave them behind, it didn’t exactly mean she had given up. Maybe there was a family out there that would keep her and she wouldn’t have to move and leave all her friends behind.

____

Just as Emma ran off to play with Brianna, Killian appeared behind the bleachers by the sand area. He poked his head around the corner, silently cursing himself for making Emma wait so long after she had summoned him. Instead of seeing her there, waiting like she usually did, she was running off with another little golden hair child. This one had an aura different from Emma’s, that orange/yellow that he had grown accustom to seeing surrounding the little humans. Emma’s aura had changed over the year he had known her. At first it was always that purple color, meaning she was angry and/ or sad all the time. But now he was seeing bits of yellow coming from her. She was lightening up and he was happy to see that happening. He smiled as he watched her go down the slide, a wide smile on her face and a laugh ringing from her lips. Yes, this was a good experience for them both to see.

The shadows that followed him looked to him for orders. They were anxious to play with the human girl who wasn’t scared of them. He looked down at them and shook his head. “Not this time. She’s busy today with another friend.” With that, he started to walk away from the playground and towards the field behind the school, his shadows following closely behind. There’s no doubt that he would have to make today up to her, but she seemed to be okay for now, and that’s all that mattered to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm really sorry for the delay on this chapter, I've had a few big changes in my life going on, including school ending and switching from third shift to first shift after being on the night shift for three years. It's a lot for me to adjust to. But I've adjusted( a little) and should be able to post more this summer! My goal is to have this done before August, because that's when my life becomes busy again. Till then!


	4. Age 10

Age 10

She sat there on the porch, sipping her iced tea, and looking out at the neighborhood she was supposed to call home. These people swore up and down that really did love Emma and that they wouldn’t send her back, they had no reason to. But Emma’s past experiences had her already convinced that this couldn’t really last any longer. They had kept her for about six months now, the longest record that she could remember besides the Swan family when she was a toddler. She did like them in all actuality. They celebrated the holidays with her instead of leaving her out.  They had one daughter of their own, April, and another foster child named Rachel, who had been with the family for about two years now, but never once made her feel like she was the odd one out. But she had a feeling, and that gut feeling was what she had learned to trust.

“Emma! Emma!” came a shout from inside the house. She turned around to see her foster sisters running towards her full sprint and straight towards her. She quickly got up from her spot just in time to avoid a mass collision from the two very energetic girls.

“Emma! You need to come with us right now!” April exclaimed, her flaxen hair going this way and that from what Emma assumed was her run to get her.

“Why? Did something happen?” she questioned. These girls were always up to something and always trying to get Emma involved in some way or another.

“For once, something did happen!” Rachel cried. Emma looked at the two girls before her a little more closely now. Both of them looked a little anxious, maybe even frightened?  What had happened inside that house?! “We were inside playing a game, when all of a sudden the whole room started to get dark. Like really dark,” Rachel continued. “Then in the corner there was this black… thing… that came up out of the floor!” Rachel started to choke on her words and Emma began to smile inwardly. She had an idea as to what was going on now, but she let them continue.

“Yeah!” April nodded. “And then the thing started looking like a human, but it was still all black you see? But I could see eyes and they were red. I mean blood red!” She motioned to her own eyes for reference and Emma watched as they got bigger as she kept describing what had happened. “And then, more of them started popping up all around us! Like daisies! But they were smaller… and … and…,” she couldn’t seem to finish her thought as she broke down into tears, obviously very frightened. Emma did feel bad for the girls, as they didn’t do anything to deserve to be scared this way, but she was still smiling on the inside.

Rachel helped April finish her thoughts as she had calmed down enough. “And after that we heard giggling come from all of them. And then the big guy was smiling now! He was smiling at us as they laughed!” Rachel cried again for a few seconds at the terrifying memory. “But Emma, then they all started to say your name,” she continued. “Things like where are you and that they missed you. And then the big guy shut them up and... He said…” she took a big breath, “he said that we must be your new sisters and if we knew where you were.”

“Then we ran out here,” April interjected.

Emma was full on smiling now, both inside and out. In fact, she was giggling at their story. This was the first time this had happened, but he had hinted at doing this to freak people out from time to time. Both girls looked at her like she was crazy. Why was she smiling and laughing at this? This was serious stuff.

“Emma, why are you laughing? This could be some murderer or something looking for you. You could be in trouble here,” Rachel leaned in towards her and whispered.

“Really? If you thought it was then why did you guys want me to come back with you?” Emma retorted back. Both of them just looked at each other in defeat before lowering their heads. She just laughed and got up from her perch to head inside the house. “Where did this happen, guys?”

“The play room,” they both uttered. She ran into the house and up the stairs with a big smile on her face while the girls screamed for her to come back and that she was going to get killed. If only they knew.

Once she got up the stairs and faced the open door to the play room that looked suspiciously darker than the rest of the house. The curtains were open, but it looked like dusk fall in there. She walked in and began to scan the room, looking for the dark figures her foster sisters had described. She didn’t see anything, no figures, no shadows, just a black eerie room. “Killian?” she quietly questioned. There was no response. “Killian? Are you here?” she asked, this time more loudly.

There was a soft chuckle that came from the closet that quickly multiplied into a dozen or so full out laughing fits and giggles. The door to the closet slowly opened and the small shadows slowly started coming out and headed straight to Emma, who smiled and said hello to each and every one of them. She had known them for the last five years or so, so of course she knew each of them. They swirled around her for a minute before backing away to make room for the bigger shadow coming out of the closet and went for Emma. The shadow began taking the form of her friend with the dark, unruly hair that somehow looked tamed and untamed at the same time and the fierce cobalt eyes that could kill with one wrong look. Killian just smiled as she ran and hugged him tightly around his waist. She was really growing like a weed.

“Hello little love. Did you like my entrance?” he smirked. She just grinned back at him and nodded.

“I think you scarred the living crap out of them. They’re gonna have nightmares for a while now,” she looked up at him and laughed.

“Well, I did say I was going to do it one of these days, didn’t I?” he snickered. “I never go back on a promise, love.”

“Speaking of which, can we play today?” she asked, her eyes lighting up in glee at the idea to play with him. All he did was nod and she let out a little whoop of joy before putting her hand over her mouth to shut herself up. She didn’t need April and Rachel coming up to see her talking to a strange man in the house and going to get their parents.

“Emma, would you like to go somewhere else to play today?” Killian looked a little nervous as he asked her. Curious little Emma just tilted her head to the side, a sign for him to elaborate on what he meant by somewhere else. “Well, uh, it’s not somewhere in this world that you know of. It’s the home of my shadows. It’s not like this world though. It may look like it, but I should let you know that you won’t be able to eat anything there,” he explained.

“Why not?”

“…Well, because if you do, then you can’t come back home. You’d be stuck there and I wouldn’t be able to come and play with you anymore,” his tone became more serious as he explained and Emma nodded as she took it all in.

“That’s fine,” was her response. He blinked, knowing that he shouldn’t have been surprised by her understanding. She had figured out he was a demon without him having to tell her and she never seemed scared when he appeared in his true form, which had only happened twice. Even then, she had asked about certain things on his appearance, like why his eyes were dark instead of blue and why was his hair like hers, blonde, and not black. She never once showed him fear, only curiosity and a knack for putting two and two together. It’s one of the many reasons he approached her all those years ago. He sensed she was a little different from the others and he seemed to be spot on.

“Well then love, shall we get going?” Killian smiled as she jumped up and down and ran around the room to grab a few items. Now it was his turn to be curious. “What are you grabbing there Emma?”

She turned from the basket she was digging through and pulled out necklace with a white gemstone attached to it. “Since you guys are able to disappear during our games, I figured it was only fair that I can too!” she beamed at him. “This necklace will help me become invisible like you guys when we play so that I’m not a sitting duck!”

His smile grew tenfold at her childish charm and motioned for her to come over to him. He hugged her tightly before pulling her back and grabbing her hand with his left. With his right hand he began to draw a symbol in the air that took form as he drew it. She watched as he drew a circle and then a multitude of stars, squiggles, and other symbols she couldn’t name before he put his hand in the center. The sigil disappeared and a murky, gloomy portal appeared before them. The shadows all cheered as they headed into the portal until it was only her and Killian left in the room. Just as they were getting ready to step through, they heard a loud gasp from the door way and turned around to see April and Rachel standing there, hands over their mouths and looks of pure shock mixed with horror. Emma just smiled and waved.

“I’ll be back later okay! I’m going to go play with Killian,” is all she said before she stepped into the portal and disappeared. Killian just turned around and smiled, waved a hand at the two young girls and stepped into the portal before it disappeared.

April and Rachel didn’t have any clue how to explain to their parents what had happened, so they didn’t tell them.

Killian decided to enchant Emma’s necklace that day so that she was actually able to disappear for a little bit at a time.

She won every game that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! I'm super happy that this got out as quickly as it did! I'm thinking this story is about halfway done. We'll see how well I stick to that. Hope you all enjoyed this and see you next time!


	5. Age 17

 

Emma had gone and really done it this time. She was terrified. And she was alone. Since she hadn’t been put with a family for a few years now she had been living in a group home. Most of the other kids there were younger than her and didn’t talk to her because she seemed to scare them away. The ones her age just didn’t associate with her at all, thinking she was a loner and weird. But when they see her talking to shadows, anyone would think that way. Emma really didn’t have anyone to talk to in this house.

She hadn’t seen Killian in a few months, something about having been busy with another deal with a soul and he couldn’t leave until the deal was complete. But he did send his shadows to keep her company when she called to him. In a way, she knew this was the best he could do, but she was still upset that he couldn’t he get away for even just an hour to make time to talk. He was always able to in the past. What was so different about this time? She really needed to talk with him, now more than ever. But what difference did it make? There really wasn’t anything he would be able to do to help her, except _maybe_ haunt the guy for all eternity and plague his dreams with nightmares.

It didn’t really matter though. Emma still went to bed that night, alone and terrified.

___

Five Months Later

It had been five months since he had last seen Emma. She had been calling out to him a lot lately and attempting to summon him but he hadn’t been able to leave his current ‘job’. It was only what the humans considered a moderate possession, but he’d been ordered to not leave the human for any reason at all. He was to not have a clear mind at all. Killian was surprised that the man had lasted five months since his possessions of that level usually only last three months before his human dies from natural or unnatural causes or the church is called in. He wasn’t a fun demon to have possessing you.

His one weakness was a little blonde haired girl who he had seen grow up in some tough times. And he had left her alone for five months. He had no idea how she was; he told his shadows to not let him know. If he found out she was in trouble he would have disobeyed his orders in a heartbeat, if he had one, and gone to her to aide in whatever she needed.

But now he was free, his possession having passed away and leaving him free. As soon as he was cleared, he went straight to where his little blonde girl was.

He was excited to see her after all these months. He was expecting her to be in the home group where his shadows had said she was living, but surprised when he found himself outside a women’s health center with pregnant women filling the waiting room. This couldn’t be right? Maybe Emma was here with a friend? He began to explore the building, thankful the humans couldn’t see him, looking for what he knew was her aura. It was close and so was she.

He found her in a room with her back to him and he was relieved to see she was okay. It must have just been a normal human health visit. He knew they needed constant doctor visits.

His relief turned to anger the second she turned around to get up from the table she was sitting on. There she was, with a pregnant belly. And he hadn’t been there to help her.

___

Emma felt his presence the moment he entered the room. She knew how to find him even if he wasn’t visible to the human eye. She guessed it was one of the perks of being the friend of a demon for so long. But she ignored him until the doctor walked out of the office after handing her the pictures of the ultra sound she had gotten that day.

A boy. She was going to have a boy. She was excited to have found out the sex of her baby, but that just also made it more real. And it made it all sink in even further that this was going to happen soon. She may have four more months, but that wasn’t anything.

As she hopped down off the table she turned toward the far corner of the room and smiled. “Hello Killian, long time no see, literally.”

“How can you be happy to see me when I’ve ignored you for so long? And during a time you really needed me?” He sounded broken as he began to make himself visible to her. She examined his face. He was upset with himself. He was berating himself. And he hated himself.

“Killian, look at me.” She said softly. He didn’t even move. “Please?”

He looked up a little, just enough to give her some attention and she smiled that wonderful smile that he had missed.

“I’m not mad at you. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t hated you at first.” He winced at her confession. “But I realized you never really abandoned me. You sent your shadows to look after me. And little messages of hi and the happy birthday message. They helped me get by just fine. So yes, I was pissed but not anymore.” As she talked she continued to walk slowly towards him till she was only a few inches from him and looking up at him and straight into his eyes. He couldn’t really meet her eyes, but he tried. He wasn’t really pissed at himself anymore. He was thoroughly upset with the bastard who had done this to her. And she saw that emotion flash through his eyes. For a demon, he really was an open book.

“Why don’t we go back to my place and I’ll explain everything that’s happened?” she offered.

He cocked his head to the side at her wording. What did she mean her place?

“Oh umm, I live on my own now. I turned 18 and when that happens the system kicks you out. I was able to get a job and a really crappy apartment, but it’s home.” She explained. He did nothing but nod his head as she grabbed his hand with a smile and they walked out of the office together. The nurses and doctors all looked quite confused at the random stranger who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. But she didn’t care. She had her best friend back and she had a lot to catch him up on.

Although she would have loved to see their faces when they got outside the building and she and Killian disappeared in a black smoke. That always seems to freak people out the most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! It's been quite awhile since I've posted. And I'm sorry for that. I've been dealing with a lot these past few months. I had an internship, classes, work, and marching band and no time to sleep. I had to put everything writing wise on hold to help me even deal with my mental health which got worse as the semester progressed, but I'm doing better. Thanks to everyone who left me kind words from the last chapter. They were much needed and helped me greatly.   
> I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I've been writing and rewriting it for a full week now and this version is the one I'm the most happy with. And I figured I should get one more chapter out before the New Year.  
> Anyways, thanks for reading and keeping with the story! There will be more updates in the nearby future as I have way more time to myself.   
> Until then.   
> With love and Happy New Year! See you all next year :)


	6. Age19

Emma-Age 19

Killian looked at the building that Emma at said that she had moved to in disbelief. There was no way that she could be living in a place that was this run down and dangerous. No, she deserved so much more.

_“Killian, I don’t like it here either, but it’s what I can afford with my what I’m making,” she had scolded him on his last visit a few weeks ago._

He only shook his head and walked up the stairs to her door on the third floor and knocked. Behind the door, he heard someone stumbling over something, a few choice words followed by Emma saying “Henry, no don’t say that word!” All this before she arrived at her door and opened it with a wide smile on her face.

“Killian! I’m so glad you’re here!” she exclaimed as she pulled him inside and closed the door, immediately locking it behind her. “I need your help with something.”

“What is it, love?” he responded without hesitation. The amount of things this human could coerce him into doing would make him a laughing stock if the other demons found out about it.

“Well, I need to head out and run a few errands and my babysitter canceled on me and these things really need to get done today and, well, I was wondering if you might be okay with watching Henry for a little while?” She took a deep breath after finishing her sentence and clasped her hands together in an almost begging manner. “Please? I’ll owe you big time if you do!”

Killian’s laugh rang out through the apartment. She was really flustered over that? She must know that any favor she asked him was no problem to him. And how hard could it be to take care of a child for a few hours anyway? He had met Emma when she was not much older. How much different could they be anyway? “Emma, it’s no problem. I’ll watch the little lad for you. You just go get what it is you need done.”

She went in for a hug and thanked him profusely very quickly and then ran back to the hallway where her room was located and came back out with a purse, a casual blue dress, and some black flats a few minutes later. He only tilted his head to the side in confusion as he watched her run around the small apartment gathering a few small items here and there and scribbling down something on a piece of paper before she ran over to him again.

“Okay, so here is my cell phone number if you need it, but I don’t think you even have one anyway but oh well,” she handed him the number and then gave him another index card with more words on it. “And here’s instructions on how to feed him and what to do in case he cries.” “Here’s another for where everything is located in here and…”

“Emma,” Killian cut her off, “I know where everything is in here love. I’ve helped you take care of him before. It’s nothing I haven’t done before.” His hand found its way to her shoulder to calm her down and reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

She sighed and looked up at him. “You’re right. Thank you. I just don’t like leaving him with anyone and I’m so paranoid about babysitters and that he’ll think that I’m not a good mom or…” she stopped and huffed again. “Sorry again.”

He only smiled at her and her concerned rambling. There was no doubt in his mind that she was such a good mother and Henry would grow up to adore her because she is trying so hard to make things good for him. “Go! Hurry before you’re late!” He pushed her towards the door and locked it behind her as she said goodbye to him and Henry. “Goodbye Emma!”

He turned to look at Henry, who was playing quietly with his toys and grinned. “Hey there Henry. What do you think about going on a little adventure today?” He picked the toddler up, grabbed the stroller that Emma had in her small room, the diaper bag that had everything but the kitchen sink in it and started walking towards the door when he remembered he could just literally appear wherever he wanted. The stroller was quickly ditched and he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke with a laughing toddler.

\----

The first stop on Killian’s list of adventures was the car shop where he had to go pick up a car he had currently being worked on. Killian expected the trip to go smoothly as he was only going to check on the progress and how long it may be before it was done.

Henry had other plans though.

As soon as he walked through the door he thought that the toddler that could barely walk wouldn’t get to far so he put him down to quickly talk to the mechanic. As soon as he turned his back, Henry shot off straight for the garage portion of the shop. And he didn’t stop until he had ended up in a pile of discarded pile of worn tires in a corner next to a yellow car.  

“Whose kid is this?!” is all Killian heard before he turned to find that Henry was not behind him like he thought he would be. He sprinted for the voices talking about the child and how cute he was.

 _Emma is going to kill me. She’ll find out a way to_ is all he thought as he ran towards the crowd of mechanics around the child. He finally got to him and pulled him out of the tire pile, without so much as a grease stain on him thankfully and hug him closely. He didn’t even bother trying to hide before his black cloud of smoke engulfed him and the toddler and they disappeared in a dark mass surrounded by a cluster of confused people.

“I wouldn’t ask questions if I was y’all,” the mechanic Killian had been talking to announced from the counter before turning around and helping the next person.

\----

After two more stops with no more incidents Henry, (Killian had quickly seen the errors of his ways and went to retrieve the stroller he had left behind) Killian took Henry to a park to walk around until he felt it was about time to return to the apartment. All day he had been wondering what Emma had been up today that forced her to asking him to babysit, but he didn’t bother trying to find her. She would tell him later anyways if she wanted too.

_‘Killian, you fucking demon spawn, where are you and where is my son!’_

Shit.

He had never felt fear before as he normally was the one instilling fear into the hearts of humans. But for this one moment he thought he felt a small bit of fear at what Emma may do to him unless he brought Henry home now.

He had never disappeared as quickly as he had in that moment.

And to save his own hide, he didn’t tell her about the car shop incident, only that he had decided to take him to the park for some fresh air and to tucker him out, which worked because he had passed out after being home for ten minutes.

\----

Later that night they sat together on her couch watching some crappy movie on Netflix and laughing at the horribly written lines.

“Emma.” he turned to her after the movie had ended and they had calmed down from their laughing fits.

“Hmm?” she glanced at him.

“If there was some kind of power you had, what would it be?” She couldn’t help but look at him with confusion. He quickly came up with an excuse for his question. “I heard some small humans talking about their own superpowers like those heroes you idolize and I was just curious is all…” He hoped it covered his tracks.

She sat there for a few minutes, looking at nothing in particular before she spoke up. “To be able to detect a lie,” she said.

His head jerked up at her answer. It definitely wasn’t the answer he was expecting. “Why’s that?” he questioned.

“Well,” she started, “it’s simple for me really. My whole life I’ve had people constantly tell me one thing and really mean another. They made promises they never intended to keep. I want to be able to know if someone is lying to me so that I know if they’re worth keeping in my life. I feel like after the short one I’ve led so far, I need to be able to surround myself with the right people.”

In all the years he had known her, he known that she was mature for someone her age, no matter how old she was. Her aura had started out almost always purpleish. Over the years, that had changed to include more orange and yellow hues. The purple was still there, but it wasn’t as present. Since she had had Henry, that purple was almost gone and it was taken over with orange and the occasional blue for her worries. But it still didn’t change the fact that she was wise beyond her years. She could have said she wanted to fly or become invisible or some other generic power he was used to hearing. But she just wanted to protect her family.

He couldn’t have been more proud of her.

He was suddenly hugging her and she was confused as to what brought it on, but she hugged him back because he never really did contact. Some weird demon thing or something like that.

“Emma, you’re wonderful. Don’t forget that,” he said as he pulled back and smiled at her.

\----

The next morning Emma awoke to find that she had a missed call from her job interview the day before. Nervously she listened to it, only to find out that they had accepted her application and that they would like to talk immediately to figure out her first case and get her some training.

She looked over at her sleeping son, knowing that soon, things would be better for the two of them. She was now a bail bondswoman. The money may depend on her cases, but it was better than her current retail job.

~

It was on her first case that she found that she was able to tell who her target was because he was blatantly lying through his teeth answering her questions as they sat in a sketchy part of town.

~

She also found a note on her apartment with a keychain with a swan and key attached to it.

_Swan,_

_You deserve nothing but the best. It may not look it, but this gift should be a good fit for a while for you._

_P.S. The money can’t be transferred back or returned, so take it and do what you need or please._

“That damn hell spawn,” she muttered through a smile on her face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this story updating. I've kinda lost interest in this one for a while, but I think it's coming back. This chapter was fun to write so that's something.  
> Anyways, I feel like this story is almost done. Maybe two more chapters? We'll see!


	7. Age 23

Emma- Age 23

It’s been about three years since Emma had seen Killian. She’d heard from him, but she hadn’t physically seen him. It’d been hard at first to not have him there at first, but as time went on, it got better. She still had his notes that he’d send with his little shadows and whom Henry had grown to love playing with. After years of playing with her as a young girl, they had lots of experience.

She had tried summoning him, but had sent his shadows with his apologies that he couldn’t leave where he was. When he left her apartment that day four years ago, he said he’d visit the next month, but didn’t actually come until three months later. After that, he’d seen her two more times and then just kind of disappeared from her life minus the letters.

Oh. and the fact that he had sent her enough money throughout the years that she could move to a more decent(safe) part of the city, which meant a nicer apartment with Henry being able to have his own room. And air conditioning that actually worked. Plus, her built in lie detector was a nice added bonus. She had more closed cases under her belt than others who started around the same time as her, and she was quickly catching the eye of the big boss. A promotion seemed to be in her future.

Despite all these things, she still missed her best friend. A lot. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. And of course, she loved him-he’d been there for her when most others left. But lately she had the growing realizations that maybe she missed him more than she originally let on.

 _Seriously?!_ was her daily thought when it came up in her mind. He was a demon for crying out loud. A person who served Satan himself, who she heard wasn’t as scary as most people say, but that was coming from something that enjoyed fear and pain and all the other things she didn’t really think about that came with being a demon. All she knew was that he didn’t feel human emotions such as love and joy and happiness. But she thought Killian was different. He laughed with her. He seemed to enjoy being with her and Henry and said that he loved spending time with her at one point in time. But that could just be him picking up on human sayings and using them with her to make her feel better when she needed a confidence boost.

 _Damn,_ she thought, _I’m in love with that damn hell spawn._

\---

The first thing he saw when he woke up was the gray sky. He heard seagulls in the distance and the crashing of waves. Where was he? And how did he get here? Killian sat up from his position and looked around his surroundings.

He was on a beach it seemed. And he was hurt. He looked down to his arms to see that they were bleeding from long, deep cuts going vertically down them. His legs had the same kinds of wounds. What had happened to him? No matter, he could just heal himself.

Although when he tried to, nothing happened. Weird. He tried again and still nothing happened. He tried to get up and leave, but the dark smoke never came. What was going on? Well, he was up now. He should try and get somewhere other than the beach where people could find him like this. The last thing he wanted was to draw attention to himself while he tried to figure out what was going on.

He looked at the city that lay next to the beach he was at and instantly recognized it. Boston. He was close to Emma. If he could just get to her. But in his condition, he didn’t know if he could make. But he still had to try. And so, Killian set off down the street towards the part of the city he knew Emma resided in the hopes of finding her.

\---

“Yes Ruby, I’m on my way back. Thank you so much for watching Henry tonight,” Emma said as she walked back to her yellow bug her demon had given her. “Hmm? Oh yeah, if you could please put him to bed soon, that’d be great. I’m still on the other side of the city by Quincy and I need to stop and get a few things before I get back. Alexis should be there soon after he’s down to spend the rest of the time with him till I get back.”

A few more words from her friend and a good night to her son and she was back on the road after chasing down her latest sleazebag and successfully locking him up for embezzlement. This paycheck should be a nice one and set her up for at least the next month.

She had decided to take the scenic route back home and was driving down the ocean lane when she stopped a little ways away from what looked like someone walking, limping actually, down the street. Deciding to get a little closer, she drove a little closer until she saw that the man had dark hair that looked so familiar. But his arms and legs… They were covered in deep cuts that had dried blood on them. Quickly, she pulled her car up to the man and jumped out to help him out, but stopped short when she saw his face. That hair she had recognized, but the eyes gave him away.

“Killian?” she chocked. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but she was afraid she would hurt him.

He looked up from the street and the smile that appeared on his face was dazzling, minus his obvious wounds. “Emma, I found you,” he managed to get out before he started to sway. She managed to catch him before he face-planted into the ground.

“Great,” she grumbled aloud. “I don’t see you for three years and this is how we first meet again.” She started to slowly carry/drag him to her car to put him in the back seat and take him to her place. “You owe me a really good reason for this you damn spawn,” she uttered to no one in particular as she got in the driver’s seat and head home.

“Hey Ruby! Hey look, do you think you could actually take Henry home with you tonight? I don’t think I’ll be able to make it back tonight. Hmm? Oh, everything is fine! I just kind of ran into a few little things and I need to go to the office. Yeah, sure thing. Tell Granny I said hi and thank you so much!”

She looked at the mirror to see him sleeping in the back seat and smiled. At least he was back.

\---

Two days later and Killian was finally waking up. Henry had stayed with Ruby and Granny with a promise from both of them that it was no problem at all and the occasional picture of him and Ruby. Her favorite was of his face covered in beans from sticking his face in the coffee beans at the restaurant. His excuse was that they smelled good.

She had brought him straight to her apartment, checking that Henry wasn’t there, cleaned him up and put him in her bed to let him rest while she stayed on the couch. And then had done nothing but worry and wonder what had happened to him and how he got all the way in Quincy and why he was walking?

After getting him up when he was finally awake enough, she made him some soup and had asked him to tell her what happened to him. All he did was look down into the bowl with a look of utter defeat on his face.

“Killian?” she asked as she slowly put her arm on his shoulder.

He looked up to her and then back down and quietly muttered “I’m no longer welcome back home.” He looked up at her to gage her reaction to his answer and saw that she was a little confused and trying to process what he had said. He sighed and put the bowl down on the night stand next to him. “Emma. I am no longer a demon. I am a human,” he said with such force in his voice she was taken aback a little.

She quickly got over that and slid all the way onto the bed next to him and just carefully laid her head onto his shoulder. She didn’t ask him anymore questions, knowing that he was exhausted, but she also didn’t really care right now. And Killian only looked at her and smiled as he settled in next to her. This was a nice feeling he thought he could really get used to.

\---

Throughout the next few months, the new human Killian became accustomed to life as a human. His wounds had healed, leaving only minor scars thankfully. He was lucky that he had access to all his old accounts and any other worldly holdings he had, which meant he was able to get a job to pass the days. He loved watching Henry when Emma was gone, but he wasn’t used to staying still for so long. And so, he set out to begin work at the children’s home. It seems he was interested in working with children after Emma’s experience growing up.

Speaking of Emma. They had grown close over time. Living together will do that to people. But their friendship was stronger than ever. Emma’s feelings for him only deepened as time went on, but she kept them to herself. Killian had enough on his plate right now. Only, Killian’s feelings for her had been there for a while now and had grown as well over the past few months.

 He learned new these new feelings were things he had started to feel when he was still a demon towards Emma during their last few visits together. Things like joy and happiness he had started to feel when the girl was younger. Those were easier to hide from other hellish creatures. But once he started to develop actual feelings for the human girl, what he now called love, well that was harder to hide.

Emma had found out some details about his missing three years over time as well. He had apparently been put on trial, for what she wasn’t sure, but as a result of being guilty, he was stripped of his immorality and became a human. Apparently, it was a merciful way to be punished. Most others were just stripped off their immortality and killed on the spot. It seems that Lucifer had a soft spot for her hell spawn. He never disappointed and was one of his better demons. If she could, she would thank him personally.

“Hello?” she called one evening as she was getting back from the grocery store.

“In the living room!” Killian answered followed by Henry’s ecstatic answer “Mama!”

Emma quickly went to put the things she bought away and ran to the living room to meet her son in their daily hug greeting. “Hey there kid. I missed you today,” she said as she smothered him in the hug. After another few seconds, she put him down and saw Killian standing next to where Henry was, just smiling at her.

“Welcome home Swan,” he said and pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. She quickly melted into his hold and hugged him back.

The moment was ruined a minute later with her son tugging on her shirt. “Mama. I’m hungry. Can you make me something to eat?” She looked from her son to Killian who only shook his head. “He burnt my grilled cheese. You don’t expect me to eat that when you make it so good do you?!” the five-year-old blurted out. Killian just put his head in his hands and Emma laughed.

“Okay honey. Go get the ingredients ready and I’ll be there in a minute to make you the best grilled cheese of your life,” she said and winked at him. He only cheered and ran into the kitchen.

Killian still looked embarrassed from the child’s confession. She chuckled. He really was cute.

“Hey there.” she waved her hand in his face to get his attention. “You know it’s nice you tried to make him food. But you shouldn’t have tried the grilled cheese. That’s my specialty.” Emma gave him a smile and flicked his nose to try and cheer him up.

He quickly wrapped his hands around her waist and hugged her close to him as she left out a slight ‘oof’ from being caught off guard.

“Maybe you could teach me your secrets to this sandwich so the child doesn’t give me another lecture on the art of the grilled cheese.”

Oh. He was close to her face. Like, very close. Without thinking, she did what she had wanted to for a while now. She kissed him. Emma put her hands around his neck and pulled him down, closing the gap between them quite effectively. It was Killian’s turn to be caught off guard.

As quick as it started, it was over. Emma’s face was bright red and she started to turn her head to the side, avoiding his gaze.

“I... I’m sorry… I don’t. I don’t know what came over me,” she started to explain, but was quickly shut up when Killian’s mouth met hers once again in a gentle kiss that made her legs go weak. Good thing he was holding her up.

Only parting when the need for air became too great, they rested their foreheads together and smiled at each other.

“Hey,” he said at her.

“Hi,” she replied through her smile.

“So, that uh, I hope wasn’t unwanted or just a one-time thing,” he confessed and started rubbing the back of his head. Emma’s smile only grew, so did his, and she brought him down for a quick kiss.

“I hope it wasn’t a one-time thing. I rather liked it.”

They stood there for another minute, letting the moment just soak in before the rambunctious child in the kitchen called out.

“Mama! I’m dying of hunger in here!”

Emma couldn’t help but laugh from his statement. After another kiss to his cheek, she grabbed Killian’s hand and led him to the kitchen with the promise of teaching him the correct way to cook her famous grilled cheese.

As the little family sat down to eat, Emma looked around and couldn’t help but think how lucky she was. She had a son who loved her, friends who she loved and would do anything for. Her best friend was back and now she had found someone she thinks she may be able to spend the rest of her life with. He had never left her, even when he could have plenty of times. He was a constant in her life and memories. She loved him, and he loved her.

Yes, her life had turned out to be better than she could have imagined it could have ever been. And to think it all started on the playground all those years ago. Summoning demons wasn’t so bad if you asked her.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! I finished my first multi chapter story! It took a while and I lost interest in it for some time, but at the end of the day I'm super proud of this one! Thanks to everyone who kept up with this and kept coming back to it. I really appreciate it.   
> Much love to everyone~


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